Did Bratz Dolls Subconsciously Become The Beauty Standard?

Browse the social media pages of any number of popular influencers, and you’ll see some common threads in terms of their appearances. Big lips, small noses, and long, thick hair dominate beauty pages all over Instagram and TikTok, resulting in an appearance that’s remarkably similar to a Bratz doll.

What Happened to Individual Beauty? 

Take a look at this collage of different beauty icons from the ‘90s and ‘00s, proving that graceful, feminine facial features come in all shapes and sizes:

In addition to Adriana Lima’s and Jessica Alba’s plump pouts, we see Julia Roberts’ and Claudia Schiffer’s thinner – but still beautiful – lips. Some of the women have hooded eyes, like Brooke Shields and Vanessa Paradis. A few of the makeup looks are heavier in the older photos, but they’re nothing like the thick, drawn-on brows and overlined lips that we see in the second set of pictures. Most notably, all of the women look like individuals, each with her own unique set of facial features that make her beautiful in her own way.  

In contrast, the more current photos feature women that look pretty much the same: puffy lips, heavy eye makeup, long, straight hair, and heavily contoured faces with noses that are all but nonexistent. (Not to mention, none of them are smiling.) Few people would claim that these women are unattractive, but their looks are alarming for two reasons: First, they all look so strikingly similar. And second, they all bear a resemblance to the popular Bratz dolls. 

Bratz: Gen Z’s Anti-Barbie

Bratz dolls were released in 2001 and became mega popular by the mid-aughts. The dolls’ exaggerated facial features and borderline sexualized appearance posed a sharp contrast to the Barbie doll’s classic and wholesome look.  

But the differences between the two doll lines goes beyond appearance. Whereas the Bratz girls always look like they’re ready for the club at a moment’s notice, Barbie and her friends have always been celebrated for their variety of interests. Whether they’re looking for veterinarian Barbie, gardener Barbie, chef Barbie, or anything in between, girls have no trouble finding dolls whose interests match their own. 

The little girls who played with Bratz in the brand’s heyday are all grown up. If the target demographic was girls ages 5 through 10, these girls would be in their mid-twenties by now, making them a generation of consumers with a large voice in today’s beauty industry. It’s possible that these consumers who are calling the shots in terms of modern beauty standards are subconsciously basing their ideal aesthetic on the Bratz dolls that they grew up with. 

Beauty standards are ever-evolving, but never before has society craved an aesthetic that’s so artificial. A quick trip to Instagram will leave you with no doubt that society’s beauty standards have shifted towards the Bratz look. And thanks to fillers and plastic surgery procedures, the dolls’ look is actually attainable. While I doubt any woman has sat in the injector chair and said, “Make me a living, breathing Bratz doll,” it seems that the toy’s aesthetic has seeped into our subconscious and has now become the gold standard of beauty in some circles.  

A Shift Towards Femininity

The Bratz aesthetic ruled beauty circles for the better part of the last decade. Lately, though, we’ve been witnessing a return to a more classic and nuanced form of beauty, with stars like Margot Robbie and Sydney Sweeney sporting a more natural, feminine appearance. Even Kylie Jenner – whose own look has been synonymous with the Bratz aesthetic for nearly a decade – is embracing a more natural appearance after reportedly dissolving half of her lip filler. 

Believe it or not, this shift may stem from an unlikely source: Barbie. In some ways, the cinematic release of Barbie last summer meant a reawakening of femininity. The film’s overall message on gender roles is up for debate (although I personally believe it championed traditional gender roles whether Greta Gerwig realized it or not). But for the first time in years, audiences were shown a movie that celebrated femininity in all her hot pink glory. And the girls showed up in droves: The movie raked in nearly $1.5 billion dollars in box office sales worldwide. 

To be clear, Barbie has hardly been the standard for “natural beauty” over the decades. In fact, you don’t have to look hard to find plenty of criticism about how her platinum blonde hair, flawless face, and long, lean body impose unrealistic beauty standards on young girls. But there’s no denying her fresh face has a more natural appearance than that of a Bratz doll. 

For starters, Barbie and her crew of Mattel-made gal-pals have more proportionate facial features, including normal-sized lips, eyes that don’t consume half of their faces, and noses that are more substantial than a slight nub. In addition, the Barbie girls have a cleaner makeup look than the frosted-lipped and smokey-eyed Bratz dolls. We’ve seen this shift in the makeup world too, with the clean girl aesthetic and “no makeup” makeup looks rising in popularity in recent years. 

The fact is, a healthy feminine spirit can make a woman more attractive than overdone injections or tweakments ever could. It’s true that many of the women we call “natural beauties” (including the star of Barbie herself, Margot Robbie) have likely had a nip here or a tuck there, but these procedures are done in a tasteful way that still make them look like a more refreshed version of themselves, as opposed to carbon copies of Real Housewives and Kardashians. 

Closing Thoughts

It’s interesting how our perception of beauty as young girls shapes our perception of our ideal image of beauty into our adult years. In our minds, the dolls we played with were the epitome of fun, feminine, successful women – so it makes sense that we’d subconsciously want to look like those dolls as grown ups. 

Thankfully, our culture seems to be cultivating an appreciation for natural beauty again in recent years, instead of a “one size fits all” standard. As women, let’s ditch the doll look and continue to celebrate the features that make each of us unique. 

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